文档介绍：Contents
Preface vii
Note to the Reader xi
1 Mathematica in a Nutshell 1
Running Mathematica ..................... 1
Numerical Calculations .................... 2
Algebraic and Trigonometric Calculations .......... 4
Calculus in Mathematica .................... 8
Numerical Mathematics .................... 13
Graphics ............................. 18
Simple Plots ...................... 18
Parametric Plots .................... 19
Contour and Density Plots .............. 22
Three-Dimensional Plots ................ 23
Numbers ....................... 26
An Example from Optics ............... 28
Animation ............................ 36
Input and Output Control ................... 41
Problems ............................ 43
2 Vectors and Matrices in Mathematica 49
Electric Fields .......................... 49
Ionic Crystals .......................... 54
Preface
Over two years have passed since the publication of Mathematical Meth-
ods, my undergraduate textbook to which the present book was to be a
companion. The initial motivation for writing this book was to take some
examples from Mathematical Methods in which to illustrate the use of a
symbolic language such as Mathematica. However, after writing the first
few pages, I realized very quickly that, for the book to be most effective, I
had to go beyond the presentation of examples. I had to talk about the the-
ory of numerical integration, discrete differentiation, solution of differential
equations, and a number of other topics; thus the delay in the publication
of the book.
As a result, the book has e a self-contained introduction to the
use puter algebra—specifically, Mathematica—for undergraduates in
physics and related fields. Although many of the examples discussed here
are taken from Mathematical Methods, no prior knowledge of the content
of that book is essential for learning the tec